I see your smiles in the dark; it warms me to know I am so welcome. My time among you is short, so I must begin the prelude. We had been part of a great world named Persepis. A world ruled by empires of enlightened races, driven by powerful magic, and home to dragons andRead more…

My mom is a clown. Yep, red rubber nose, orange wig, funny clothes – the whole nine yards. And if that’s not bad enough, my gran is a motorcycle riding social worker with tattoos from one end of her body to the other. She works at a women’s shelter. Imagine my life.

The noon sky was just pale enough for her blue cloak to match it: the perfect concealment. She could extend a hand and believe there was no arm to anchor it. A traveler on roads below might look up at the birds or the sun and never know that Amarantha watched him from the highestRead more…

The worst present I ever got was from my grandmother, Nana Sweeney, when I was eleven years old. She was my mother’s mother and she gave me Rosary Beads. I’d just got a set of dominoes from my parents, which was bad enough, but the beads were just insulting. Of course, this happened before I’dRead more…

My day sure changed suddenly. I had intended to eat breakfast, then stir myself around and go look in on Miz Liberton, who Mary Duncan said was feeling poorly. Thought I might run to the grocery for her. Pick up a few things if she needed something. Maybe tidy up her kitchen. She can’t getRead more…

There’s a giant head in my living room. It’s made of grey clay, and it sings through the night. It sings songs about America. Sometimes boogie-woogie or the Big Bopper. It sings Buddy Holly. It sings about the plane that crashed and sometimes the song about the crash. It sings about whiskey and rye. IRead more…